A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back! Its been about a year and a half since I published anything, the entire time I've been stuck in a rut. This is my first Twilight fic, written for my best friend/slave driver. Nothing else to really add, so please read and review.
I don't remember much about that day. I just remember being on the streets. It was just another day in my life. I was a gang-girl 100%. I had no family, both my parents were dead. I had a police record longer than my arm. I lived for myself and I knew I would die for my gang. Whoever knew that the day of my death would come so soon? I was barely past my 16th birthday. I was young and strong, pretty with chocolate hair and chocolate eyes. A war was breaking out on our territory and I wasn't about to let someone take what I had worked so hard for. My friends and I went out looking for trouble, walking the streets, our knives hidden in our pockets. I don't remember much about the actual fight. There was more of the other gang than I first thought. Before I knew it I was alone, my 'friends' running to save their own asses. I was surrounded, my knife gone. The last thing I remember was being struck in the back of the head with a glass bottle and falling to the ground.
Now I'm here, I hear voices but I can't move. All I can do is lie in this soft bed and feel the burning of my body. It's like hell fire licking over every cell in my body. I want to scream but I can't. It's been almost three days. The hell fire is better than it was, it's starting to subside. I can hear the strange people talking again.
"We have to leave" says one, a man. I can't open my eyes to hear his face but he sounds very analytical, like a general directing his troops.
"We can't move her yet, she isn't ready yet, Jasper." Another says. I know he's a doctor; he's been coming to me for the last few days, checking on me.
"She's going to be thirsty when she awakes" the one named Jasper argued. "We have to leave before she kills someone"
"Well you can't expect to take a new born back to Forks!" a third said in a gruff voice. He wasn't like the others, he was warmer and I could feel he was larger.
"Calm down Jake, we'll take her to Tania's. She'll be okay there for a decade or so. Until she learns to control herself" it was a woman that spoke this time. She seemed nice and calm and spoke to this Jake like a mother.
The voices continued. I counted each name quietly to myself. 'Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, Edward, Renesmee, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Bella, Jacob, ten people all talking about me' I thought to myself. The strange fire was beginning to die away. Suddenly, I was able to move. Almost like an instinct, I sprang from the bed and into the corner, bending down into a crouch. I felt so animalistic, so intone with my senses. I could smell them; they smelt like me, except for the dark-haired tan one, Jacob, who sat on the couch and the small golden-haired one that sat in his lap. All of them stared at me with wary eyes. Slowly they all shifted towards me. It was a movement barely noticeable even to my now heightened senses, but I saw it nonetheless. I shifted with them, letting a small snarl escape my throat. I didn't know these people. All I knew was they were powerful and that they were going to hurt me. They would make the pain in my head return, or worse, the hell fire.
The blonde thin one with messy hair moved towards me. My eyes widened, he was a fighter, his pale skin covered in scars. He sprang towards me; I ducked down and slammed my leg into his stomach. The rest jumped towards me, I ducked and dodged around every one of them with ease. This was second nature. I was used to fighting more than one person at once. I ran into another corner, trapped again. They all picked themselves up from the ground and again turned to me. I crouched again ready for another attack.
"Wait a second, this isn't going to work" The big bear-like one said moving to the front of the group. He approached me slowly, smiling with his arms held open in a gesture of peace. "Hey there" He said. "We're not going to hurt you; I'm Emmett, Emmett Cullen. What's your name?"
For some reason, I believed him. I straightened; even then he was much taller than me. He had dark hair and a very relaxed demeanor. I had known him all of 5 seconds but I felt like I had known him for a lifetime. A little shiver ran up my spine. Something tugged in my stomach. My lip quivered. This person was something I had been missing. He was safe. The safest place I had ever known. I felt something climbing in my eyes and I raised my hands to cover my eyes. He took a step forward and I flinched slightly. "Hey, it's okay; I'm not here to hurt you" Emmett continued forward until his hands rested on my shoulders. Without even understanding why, I let out a loud sob and buried my face into his chest, fisting his shirt in my hands until it ripped.
I don't know how long I stood there, crying and sobbing for an unknown reason. I don't remember when he wrapped his arms around my waist or when I fell asleep against his chest. All I know was my dreams where nice. I remembered being loved and warm. There was someone in it. Someone I knew and that loved me. Someone that left me and had never returned. Someone I had died wanting and loving and crying for.
When I woke up I was laying on the soft bed again. I didn't open my eyes right away. They were talking again. "I can't believe she sleeps" Esme said very softly.
"This girl's very strange" Jasper replied. "I've never seen a new born like her before."
I sat up and they all looked at me. I felt different this time, more in control. For the first time I noticed a burning pain in my throat. They all tensed and turned to me. I held my arms up in defense as I threw my legs over the side of the bed. "I'm not fighting anymore." I said very calmly, my mind felt so open and clear. More than it had in years. "I want to know what's going on." A confused look passed around the circle. After a few moments of silence, a small pixie-like one stepped forward smiling, as if she knew that nothing was going to happen. This one was Alice. "Hello! I'm Alice Cullen." She said smiling stepping forward to hug me. Jasper tensed like he was about to spring if I thought about touching her.
I pushed her away, I wasn't much for hugs. "Yea, nice to meet you. Please don't touch me" I replied. She smiled and sat down beside me. "Catherine's in control, like Bella was. She was made for this life."
The one they called Renesmee stepped forward. She smelt different than all the others. She didn't say anything just held her hands out to me, heading towards my face. I twitched away, expecting another hug. She paused. "Its okay" she said slowly. "Let me show you" She touched my face and for a moment I saw Jacob twitch, either in nerves or a want to rip me apart, I'm not sure which. Suddenly, my mind was flooded with images. Of all their family, introducing each one to me, of their home, in a place called Forks, of other creatures in their family, of humans that morphed into wolves, Jacob was one of them—all of them were unique and different.
"Damn, girl what the hell was that?" I asked as the girl removed her hands from me. Renesmee smiled "I'm special, a lot of us are" she said simply returning to the couch. Jacob instantly pulled her close to him and rested his head in the crook of her neck, still watching me carefully. I ignored him. "So, what do you mean by special?"
"I believe I can help you there" Carlisle said stepping forward. "This may come as a shock to you, Miss Catherine, but we're vampires and now you're a vampire as well."
I stared at him for a moment trying to decide if he was lying or telling the truth. Once I realized this wasn't a joke, I turned my head towards to ground. "So does this mean I'm a blood thirsty monster? Does that mean I'll kill people?" I asked slowly through gritted teeth, the idea of killing some innocent person making my new pale skin crawl.
Bella noticed my discomfort and came forward slowly. "No, you won't" Bella said coming to sit on the floor in front of me. "You have amazing control for a new born. I was the same way. You will be tempted at times, but for the most part, you'll be able to resist. We survive off animal blood. It's not different than having a burger. We're 'vegetarian' vampires." She smiled at the term. It was a slight comfort knowing I won't be killing randomly. Still this was so weird. It felt like everything I had ever known was a lie. Weren't vampires' just stories made up to scare little kids at Halloween? They weren't real. However, here they were standing in front of me. Here I was, one of them. And what about that Jacob kid?
"What about you? She showed me, Renesmee right? She showed me you changing into some kid of dog." I asked turning to face him. He gave a little look to Renesmee and pulled her closer to him.
"I've always considered myself a werewolf. But apparently I'm a shape shifter by classification." He replied. "There are a lot of us in La Push. Our pack protects our land from le- vampires that can't control themselves" he said, putting emphasis on the last part, like a warning to me. I could tell he wasn't crazy about vampires. But then why was he all over Renesmee? She wasn't normal like the others either.
"What's her story?" I asked jerking my head towards Renesmee. "She has a different smell than the rest of you."
Edward and Bella exchanged a small glance before Bella spoke again. "Well before I became a vampire, I got pregnant and Renesmee is out biological child. She's half human and half vampire."
"Hmm, well then, that's interesting." I replied, nothing really surprising me anymore. "So, tell me how did I get here? How did I become a… a vampire?"
"I found you," Emmett said. He was sitting on a chair in the back of the room, Rosalie sitting near by, glaring at me slightly. "You were beat up pretty bad, I thought you were already dead. But your heart was still beating a little. I bit you, and now, three days later here you are, newly born"
I watched him as he spoke. I kept replaying the scene from earlier where I had collapsed into him crying. I don't cry. I don't show emotions. I don't let people touch me. Would become a vampire change that much of me? If it had changed that in me then what else had it changed? Was I still the same person or I had completely lost myself? Of all things why did I want to be close to him? Because he had created me? No, I knew him. I know I knew him from somewhere. But it was obvious they weren't from around here. So I probably hadn't seen them around town. I would have remembered him, his expensive clothes stood out next to the grungy dirty oil-stained rags most people did. For a moment our eyes met and I looked away. A shiver shot up my spine, it was like having electricity running though me, like those golden eyes stared straight through to my soul. I didn't like it at all.
"So, can I ask what's going to happen now?" I asked trying to get someone else to speak.
"Well we still have a couple weeks of vacation left but we can't stay here. Too many people can recognize Catherine." Esme said. She seemed so warm and caring when she smiled at me.
"I guess we're going to Alaska then?" Edward said.
"Alaska it is" Carlisle replied with a nod of his head. "I'll call Tania and let her know we're coming. It'll be nice to see them all again. It's been awhile since we all had a chance to visit. Everyone, let's start packing, Renesmee will you take care of getting the tickets please, Alice, I assume you already have a bag for Miss Catherine? Of course, go ahead and get her ready."
Alice smiled happily, took me by the hand, and pulled me into an adjacent room. "I hope I got your size right" she said pulling out skirts, tops, dresses in hundreds of different styles. I grimaced at the girly ruffles, bright colors and flashy designs. These were not my style.
"Uh, not to seem rude, but do you have just jeans and a sweat shirt? I don't like fancy clothes" I said. Alice turned to me with pursed lips. "Come on, you looked awful when you first came. You're a pretty girl, show off some."
"Really, jeans and a sweat shirt please"
"But you're so cute! Let me do something with your hair and I'll dress you up really pretty."
"Damn it I want jeans and my sweat shirt!"
"And I want you to wear this!" she insisted holding up a little black dress with spaghetti straps and ruffles. I felt a vein pop up on my forehead as I ripped the door off the hinges. "DAMN IT I'M NOT WEARING A FUCKING GIRLY ASS DRESS! LET ME OUT OF HERE! RAPE RAPE RAPE!" The others shot me odd glances; Emmett just shook his head and laughed. Eventually, after I threw my temper tantrum, Alice finally conceded defeat and fished out a pair of jeans and a simple black shirt. I asked if they had my old clothes, the ones I had been wearing when they found me, but apparently they were too torn and blood stained to be worn. An hour or so passed before everyone was packed and ready to go. It seemed like they could have moved much faster, but I could tell they were in no big hurry. It wasn't like they had an uncontrollable new born to deal with like they expected. I sat down on the couch and watched as they moved gracefully from room to room. Did I move that gracefully now? They were so quick yet they never faltered. I couldn't help but watch. I was so absorbed in them if I was still human I would never have noticed Emmett sit down beside me.
"You're going to have to learn to fidget some. You sit too still," he said smiling. I probably would have flinched, but I just turned to face him as I pulled my legs up to my chest. I did not respond and just looked at him. He was huge, like a grizzly bear but he seemed so sweet, more like a teddy bear.
His smile fell when I remained silent and he moved back a little bit and leaned against the other arm of the couch. "I don't bite much, I promise."
"Oh really? Well how did I end up this way?" I responded smirking. He looked away, obviously thinking I was upset. "I was joking, damn, get a sense of humor"
He turned back to me smiling happily. He looked so ecstatic just knowing I wasn't upset. It was weird. I didn't like the fluttering I got in my stomach when he smiled at me like that. I put my elbow on the arm of the couch and rested my chin in my hand, staring out of a nearby window. It was dark and cloudy outside, a lot like my worst memories. I hated days like this. It reminded me too much of them. It was dark and rainy the day my mother left my father and me for another man. It was stormy the first night I came home to my father drunk and violent. It was dark like this the first night I ran away and spent all night on the shitty streets of this town. It was raining the night-was it only three days ago? It feels like so much longer, years, decades, the memories are all grainy and faded, cloudy. It was dark and pouring down rain, I know because I fell into a puddle, it turned red with my blood, it hurt so badly, the beating, the stabbing, the kicking, and then it all stopped. I heard them screaming, yea, screaming as they ran, it was all starting to come back. I remember feeling someone walking towards me, but I was too weak to lift my head. Someone picked me up, holding me in a sitting position; an apology was uttered before their teeth sank into my neck. It didn't hurt that much, compared to the rest of my throbbing body but then the hell fire started. They brought me back here. Damn that seems like so long ago.
"Hey" I asked quietly, turning back to the grizzly vampire beside me. "Why did you save me?" My eyes meet his amber yellow ones; they were pretty, deep, like staring through a rum bottle into someone's soul. Of course, I would relate a moment like this to liquor. A moment past but it felt like longer before he broke our gaze and looked down at the floor. "I don't know" he replied. "I just....couldn't leave you there. I couldn't let you die like a stray cat on the streets."
I snorted at his response as I rested my arm on my knees. I smiled sickly down at the floor. "I am a stray cat. I should have died like one" I watched from the corner of my eye as he sat up straight and stared at me.
"No! No one should die like that."
"Heh, you obviously don't get it. People die like that every single day. Every moment someone else is killed. I'd just be another number. I'm nothing. My father's too damn drunk to know I exist. My mother hasn't cared about me in years. My gang only loves me as long as I can fight. What do I matter?" I asked glaring at him. He didn't get it. His happy little family was disgusting. I'd be leaving them as soon as I got the hang of this vampire shit.
"Emmett, we're ready to leave" Rosalie said before he could respond. He stood and headed for the door, Rosalie stopping him momentarily to place a kiss on his neck, glaring at me while she did it. Stupid bitch, I didn't want her dick. I smiled at the thought. At least I hadn't lost my evilness.
We all headed downstairs and as Emmett and Rosalie check out, the rest of the group headed out to a bunch of expensive looking cars. Trunks where opened and luggage was thrown in, there was a shiny silver Volvo, a red sports card, and a yellow Porsche. Jasper and Alice climbed into the Porsche with Carlisle and Esme in the back seat. Bella, Edward, Jacob and Renesmee where in the Volvo and I was left looking around clueless. Should I go with them? Or do I just take off on my own? I could make my escape now and never have to deal with them. I twitched as I sensed someone coming up behind me. It was Emmett, Rosalie having gone ahead to the red sports car.
"Hey, Catherine come ride with us" he said smiling. I watched him a second, feeling that weird flutter in my stomach. I knew I wasn't going anywhere. I climbed into the back of the sports car after getting a dirty look from Rosalie. I glared back rolling my eyes.
After Emmett got in, everyone pulled out, pedal to the metal. For a moment I was a little startled, but then I relaxed, it wasn't the first time I was in a convoy of cars breaking the speed limit. It was however, the first time I was in a convoy of cars that individually cost more than most people made in a year. Silence filled the car, neither Rosalie or Emmett spoke and I didn't have anything to say. After a few moments, I silently rested my head against the window; I wasn't tired, it was just normal for me. I crossed my arms and legs and closed my eyes, falling into a deep sleep. I began dreaming almost immediately. I was in old time clothes, a simple cotton dress that covered me from head to toe. It was warm, mid summer. I was in a simple country town, standing on the front porch of a general store. This was a familiar place to me, even though I had never seen it before. I was sweeping the front porch when someone came up and grabbed me from behind.
"Kitty! What are you doing out here working. You should be sitting up in your palace like the queen you deserve to be" someone said in a teasing voice as they sat me back on my feet. I laughed, like this was a typical ritual. I turned around and looked up at someone. I couldn't see their face, but I knew them and my heart filled with love for them as I smiled. They smiled back as they leaned down and kissed my cheek.
"Where are you going?" I asked smiling even more.
"Next town over is having bear trouble" He replied, his voice was rough but light and playful with a bit of a southern drawl. I liked it.
"You're going to get yourself killed on of these days with your damn bear hunting" I replied sitting the broom down. I sat down in one of the rocking chairs and began to slowly rock as a breeze came through, rustling the trees. He chose to remain standing, leaning against one of the supports holding up the porch roof.
"That's not gonna happen Kitty, you and I both know I'm the best when it comes to bear hunting"
"Even the experts make mistakes"
"I won't Kitty"
"Lies"
"Will you stop being stubborn. I'll be fine. I'm young and healthy and I'll quit before I get to old to do it. I'm not even 20 yet; I've barely hit my prime."
"Yea, well it's going to be awful to die in your prime"
"Now will you quit that kind of talk, you're going to jinx me. Besides, I don't plan to die till I marry you"
"Yea and when's that gonna be?"
"Right after I get back from getting this bear. I plan to use the reward money to get the ring if you must know"
I stopped my rocking and looked up at him for a moment, studying his facial expressions. "And what makes you think I'd say yes to someone stupid enough to be a bear trapper for a living? Why don't I just take Papa's advice and marry someone that will take over the general store when he dies? I do have some responsibility as his only daughter." I didn't look away as I spoke. Even thought it was killing me to think that anything would come between us.
"I don't plan to hunt bears after this one. After this, I'm done Kitty I swear. I've already talked to your Pa, he's agreed to let me marry you, if you'll have me of course."
We never broke eye contact. I couldn't see his eyes, but I knew what he was asking with them 'Will you marry me?'. It echoed between us in the silence. Slowly I stood up, breaking our eye contact. Without a second thought I closed the distance between us and jumped up into his arms laughing and crying as I hugged his neck. He laughed too and hugged me tight, burying his face in the crook of my neck, spinning me around and around on the porch of what was soon to be our general store.
"Hey, Katie, we're here" someone said waking me from my sleep. Emmett had pushed the seat forward so I could get out. I stared at him a moment before getting out of the car. We were in a state park somewhere. I raised an eyebrow in question. 'Why the hell are we here?'
"Hunting trip" Edward replied. "We're not normal vampires. We don't prey upon humans, just animals"
A little shiver ran down my spine and an aching dryness appeared in the back of my throat. "Whatever" I said. They all fell in line as Jacob disappeared behind a bush and reappeared a few moments later as a large wolf, a pair of jean shorts attached to the animal's thigh. As everyone was talking and getting ready to go, Emmett came over to me. "Follow close okay? You'll be coming with me for your first hunting" he said patting me on the shoulder, I could fee the daggers being shot into the back of my head. I rolled my eyes and simply nodded walking off on my own, to sit on the sidewalk of the parking lot.
I watched them talk quietly amongst themselves, I could hear them but I choose to just shut it out. After a few moments, Jasper and Alice took on in one direction, Bella and Edward in another, Carlisle Esme and Rosalie to the left, Jacob and Renesmee to the right. Emmett came over to me and held out a hand, I ignored it getting to my feet on my own. I cracked my neck loudly and stretched the muscles in my back, not out of need but out of habit. "Lead the way"
He smiled and took off running. I followed behind him, momentarily amazed at how fast I ran with such little effort. "So what do you think of being a vampire so far?" he asked. He ran so gracefully for someone his size. "Eh, I don't really have an opinion… I guess I'm just used to rolling with the punches"
"Do you think you'll miss being human?"
"What's there to miss?"
"Your mother?"
"She ran off with another man. She wouldn't notice if I dropped dead in front of her"
"What about your dad?" he suggested
"Too drunk to write his own name."
"Friends?"
"Don't have any"
"Boyfriend"
"Peh, yea every guy wants to bring home a gang girl to meet mom"
"Well there has to be someone you're going to miss" he said looking over his shoulder at me. I laughed. "Yea, try again. I'm a loner, a solitary tiger, a stray cat. I have no family, no friends, and no future. Fuck, I was gonna die young, alone and unloved, didn't know it'd be this soon though."
We came to a clearing and he stopped so abruptly I ran a few yards further before turning back and stopping in front of him. "So you don't really care about becoming a vampire?"
I cocked an eyebrow a little throw off by his question. "Why would I be? I get to stay young forever. I'm assuming I can do as I please now. It doesn't really matter to me what I do with my life. Maybe now that I'm immortal, I can do something with it. It sure beats the hell out of dying in the gutters"